The braking systems of most modern aircraft comprise brakes with steel or carbon disks that are stacked around a torsion tube, and brake actuators that are carried by a support and that are controlled to apply a braking force on the disks in order to exert a braking torque on the braked wheels of the aircraft, thereby tending to slow the aircraft down. In general, the braked wheels are the wheels of the main undercarriages of aircraft.
The actuators of electromechanical brakes are electrically powered, and each of them comprises an electric motor adapted to move a pusher.
The installation of such actuators on the support, referred to as an “actuator-carrier” in electromechanical brakes, ought preferably to enable an actuator to be removed without removing the wheel and the brake, since those operations are relatively lengthy and complex. It is naturally also preferable to facilitate access for an operator on the ground to the means that fasten actuators on the actuator-carrier, and to make them easier to manipulate.
The installation of such actuators must also satisfy mechanical strength requirements. The connections between the actuators and the actuator-carrier are subjected to high levels of mechanical stress that occur mainly when landing and during the stage of braking that follows such landing. In general, the actuators are screwed directly to the actuator-carrier. The high levels of impacts and of vibration that can occur during landing and braking, and also the force exerted by the pushers during braking can give rise to high levels of transverse force on the fastener screws.